August 2, 1853 | Letter
Claudius Crozet explains what he thinks prompted the strike among the Tunnel workers in April 1853 for $1.50 a day wages.
November 1, 1853 | Time Table
This timetable, which took effect November 1, 1853, shows arrival and departure times on the Boston and Worcester Railroad.
December 6, 1853 | Letter
Claudius Crozet reports on labor costs and the national labor market as it affects the Blue Ridge tunnel project. He encourages the Board to consider a mixed labor force of white and enslaved black workers as a means to keep both in check.
January 4, 1854 | Letter
In his report Claudius Crozet explains the high costs of white labor and the difficulties of securing enslaved labor.
January 17, 1854 | Letter
Under pressure from the legislature to complete the Blue Ridge Tunnel project as soon as possible and at reasonable cost, Claudius Crozet outlined the progress on the construction for the Board of Public Works.
April 20, 1854 | Letter
When two slaves were killed on the Blue Ridge Tunnel project, the slaveholders retained legal counsel to negotiate a settlement with the Board of Public Works.
September 1, 1854 | Letter
When cholera broke out among Irish workers at the Blue Ridge Tunnel, Claudius Crozet reported on the epidemic and the various problems on the project with contractors.
October 27, 1854 | Letter
When two slaves were killed on the Blue Ridge Tunnel project, the Board of Public Works attorneys sought sworn affidavits from white men who knew the enslaved men to determine their value for compensation to the slaveholders. The legal process regularized and the practice of industrial slavery on the railroads.
October 27, 1854 | Letter
When two slaves were killed on the Blue Ridge Tunnel project, the Board of Public Works attorneys sought sworn affidavits from white men who knew the enslaved men to determine their value for compensation to the slaveholders. The legal process regularized and the practice of industrial slavery on the railroads.
October 27, 1854 | Letter
When two slaves were killed on the Blue Ridge Tunnel project, the Board of Public Works attorneys sought sworn affidavits from white men who knew the enslaved men to determine their value for compensation to the slaveholders. The legal process regularized and the practice of industrial slavery on the railroads.
October 28, 1854 | Letter
When two slaves were killed on the Blue Ridge Tunnel project, the Board of Public Works attorneys sought sworn affidavits from white men who knew the enslaved men to determine their value for compensation to the slaveholders. The legal process regularized and the practice of industrial slavery on the railroads.
November 1, 1854 | Letter
When two slaves were killed on the Blue Ridge Tunnel project, slaveholders held the Virginia Board of Public Works, which had hired slaves through contractors, liable for the losses. Affidavits were taken on the value of the slaves, their character and history. The Attorney General of Virginia, W. P. Bocock, ruled that whether the slaves were killed on the Virginia Central Rail Road Co. or the Blue Ridge project was immaterial, and that the Board of Public Works was liable for reasonable compensation to the slaveholders.
November 1, 1854 | Letter
When labor shortages slowed the Blue Ridge Tunnel project, Claudius Crozet solicited proposals from local contracting agents to supply slave labor.
November 5, 1854 | Letter
Claudius Crozet comments on the problems with white labor on the Tunnel project, and the possibilities for increasing the use of black slaves.
December 1, 1854 | Letter
Commenting on the unreliablity of Irish labor, Claudius Crozet recommends to the Board of Public Works that they hire black enslaved labor instead.
December 28, 1854 | Letter
In one of his regular reports to the Board of Public Works, Claudius Crozet comments on the use of enslaved labor and the use of "time" that its employment enables. Because slaves were worked longer hours, often in gangs, and not paid by the hour, unlike whites, they could be transferred from one task to the next until their annual hire was renegotiated with the slaveholder.
February 1, 1855 | Contract
In this February 1, 1855 contract between the Illinois Central Railroad and Allan Pinkerton's Detective Agency, Pinkerton & Company agree to establish a "Police Agency" in Chicago to assist the Railroad in the "prompt and efficient performance of their business."
April 15, 1856 | Broadsides
This April 15, 1856 broadside details the benefits of the "New England Colony of Iowa," in the town of Nevin. This community, "consisting of persons from the New England States," has two railroads, a school, a hotel, and, of course, tracts of land and town lots for sale.
March 1, 1857 | Rate Tables
This March 1, 1857 rate table for the North Western Virginia Railroad shows the distance between stations, lists the entire distance of the line, and gives passenger rates to and from various stations.
October 30, 1857 | Broadsides
In this October 30, 1857 circular, Ginery Twichell, Superintendent of the Boston and Worcester Railroad, describes the reasons for a ten percent pay cut for all employees. He cites the recent reduction in receipts from passengers and freight, as well as the "sudden and unexpected financial storm" as the basis for the change.